Fundamentals of Calculus and Statistics 

Welcome
Welcome to NHS and Fundamentals of Calculus. Fundamentals of Calculus and Statistics focuses on introducing students to essential concepts of Calculus and introducing students to central topics in Statistics. Units of study in this course include limits, derivatives, anti-derivatives and their applications. This course will also serve as an introductory course to statistics, which provides students the opportunity to learn statistical concepts, explore statistical properties, and apply statistical techniques in a real-world setting. Students are required to have a graphing calculator as they will be used throughout the course.  I am eager to help you learn and reach your fullest potential. I hope that you will enjoy our work together as a class, and find it to be interesting and engaging. 

Learning Expectations
Be ready to learn.

• Please be ready when class starts.  Sometimes it will be OK if you need enter quietly a little late because you had a long walk, but any lateness beyond an unreasonable amount of time (10 minutes), will be recorded as tardy in the school’s attendance record, and the school has consequences for frequent tardies and/or absences.

• Bring needed supplies:  Your device (FULLY charged), pencils/pens, notebook (containing all recent work), and a graphing calculator (TI-83 or TI-84 family, may be bought or borrowed from school).

• Leave the room only when necessary, and ALWAYS sign out letting me know where you’re going.

• Be actively engaged during class.

• Whatever the class is doing to learn, get your mind and your actions fully into it.

• During presentations and discussions, listen attentively to the teacher and each other. Raise your hand when you have something to say.

• When working with a partner or a group, pursue the assigned task as a team, and make sure everyone contributes.

• Do your assigned work regularly, fully and on time.

• Practice  is critical in a math course because many skills can only be learned and improved  with practice.

• Most assignments are due at the end of a class or beginning of the next class unless otherwise indicated.

• Finish the whole assignment. If you find some problems to be hard, don’t give up easily.

• To make sure you are in a pattern of doing homework, I may occasionally check or collect an assignment to verify whether it was completed fully and on time.

• Ask questions and seek help when needed.

• Everyone has questions when learning math. Make sure you ask your questions, during and/or outside class.

• If you find you need extra help, then I encourage you to see me for extra help. Come see me during X-Block.  I am available during some of my non-teaching periods and before or after school by appointment. Please do not wait until the day before or the day of an assessment to seek my help. I cannot promise that I will be available to help you at the last minute. You can find me in the math/science office (room 205).

• Classmates can be helpful too. That’s why we spend time working in groups. You might sometimes find it valuable to work with a classmate outside of class too.

• Follow all school and class rules.

• Your cell phones should not be a distraction during class. Students will be asked to put their cell phones in the class cell phone holder.

• You are expected to sign out each time you leave the classroom

• Please no food or drinks,with the exception of plain water.

• Cheating and plagiarism are serious offenses that violate the NHS Academic Misconduct Policy. Working with another student on everyday assignments  is permissible, but just copying someone’s work is not. Quizzes and tests must be done entirely on your own with no help from any person or materials.  If your submitted work leads me to suspect that cheating has occured, then I will address it with you.

• The use of artificial intelligence (AI) to complete assignments for this course is strictly prohibited. Students who submit work primarily generated by AI, will receive no credit and may face further consequences as outlined in the Needham High School Academic Integrity Policy. While AI can be a helpful tool for checking work, all submitted assignments must be your own. The assignments in this course are designed to evaluate your personal understanding and mastery of the concepts and skills connected to the course material, not your ability to utilize AI technology.

• Rules will be upheld by verbal warnings, parental contact, detentions, grade penalties, and/or school level discipline. Generally, more serious or repeated offenses will have greater consequences.

●  Communicating with me.

• In general face-to-face communication is best.

• If you e-mail me, use your school google account to e-mail me.  I will not answer student e-mails received from any other account.

• I will not discuss your grade via e-mail, nor will I consider requests for extensions on assignment due dates or assessments if they are made via e-mail.

Curriculum

These are some of the major mathematical topics that will be covered this year:

• Functions and Limits

• The Derivative and Derivative Techniques

• The Antiderivative and Antiderivative Techiques

• Descriptive Statistics

• Probability

Grades, Making up work and Accommodations

• Components of your grade

• Your grade for this course will be scores on assessments and assignments.  Assignments will be checked and/or collected.  Assessments and assignments will be announced in advanced.

• Your year grade will be based on your four quarter grades.

• When you are absent

• Please make it  your responsibility to find out what you missed and ask for any help you need to catch up. Assignments will always be posted  in google classroom.  If for some reason it is not, please e-mail me to check in.

• Agendas, handouts and notes will always be accessible in google classroom

• If absent from a quiz or test, make it up promptly. Ordinarily, the number of days allowed to make up work will equal the number of days you were absent. Please do not linger when making up an assessment as most often the class will await the return of an assessment once all students have completed it.  If work is not made up within the allowed time, or if you have an unexcused absence, a failing grade will be given.

• Accommodations

• Students entitled to extended testing time under an IEP, ICAP, or 504 Plan will receive additional time according to their plan. The extra time should ordinarily be on the same school day. Only when necessary and with the teacher’s permission in advance, the extra time may be taken on the next school day, but no later. 

One more thing...(okay maybe two)